Appliance for loosening screw caps of receptacles



March 31, 1970 G. FLUGEL 3,503,286

APPLIANCE FOR LOOSENING SCREW CAPS 0F RECEPTACLES Filed April 18, 1968 W VE/VTOR GU/VTE/P FZZY'GEL United States Patent 3,503,286 APPLIANCE FOR LOOSENING SCREW CAPS 0F RECEPTACLES Giinter Fliigel, 3 Kopernikusweg, Solingen, Germany Filed Apr. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 722,407

Claims priority, application Germany, Apr. 20, 1967,

F 52,199 Int. Cl. B67b 7/18; B25!) 13/00 U.S. Cl. 81--3.41 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention provides an appliance for loosening screw caps of receptacles which comprises a pair of arms, a cover-like head portion formed at one end of said arms and provided with an open ended slot extending in the longitudinal direction of the arms and opening therebetween, and a substantially annular skirt depending from said head portion and forming a clamping jaw for a screw cap to be loosened.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to facilitate the manufacture of an appliance of the afore-described kind, thereby lowering the production costs thereof.

To attain this object the present invention provides an appliance for loosening screw caps of receptacles which comprises a pair of arms, a cover-like head portion formed at one end of said arms and provided with an open ended slot extending in the longitudinal direction of the arms and opening therebetween, and a substantially annular skirt depending from said head portion and forming a clamping jaw for a screw cap to be loosened.

Manufacturing the appliance as proposed by the invention is much cheaper than manufacturing the known tongs-like appliances because they can be cut in one piece from a sheet metal plate and can be subsequently shaped into their final form in a die stamp. Furthermore, it is possible to use a relatively thin material since the head portion of the appliance, due to its cap shape, has the necessary amount of stability required for loosening a screw cap. Due to the inherent resilience of the material used it is further possible to spread the head portion of the appliance to such an extent that all screw caps having small differences in size can be gripped and loosened.

According to another feature of the invention, the transverse arm provided in one of its end portions with an elongated slot extending at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of said arm may be arranged to connect the arms intermediate their ends, said one end portion being removably guided on one of said arms, whereas the other end portion is rigidly secured to the other arm.

By the provision of this transverse arm the spreading movement of the head portion of the appliance is limited so that the head portion is prevented from being split in the vicinity of the closed end of the open ended slot which would be the case if the head portion is spread too much.

According to a further feature of the invention inwardly projecting teeth may be provided on the skirt of the 3,503,286 Patented Mar. 31, 1970 head portion. These teeth avoid any undesired sliding movement of the skirt of the appliance on the skirt of the closure cap during the loosening operation.

Furthermore, for loosening or removing pressed on closure caps it is advantageous to provide an inwardly directed angularly bent flange on the skirt of the head portion which extends along half the circumference of the skirt. This inwardly directed angularly bent flange of the head portion is adapted to engage under the skirt of the closure cap so that by depressing the free ends of the arms of the appliance and using a suitable point on top of the closure cap as a fulcrum the closure cap can be lifted to such an extent that it can be easily gripped and removed from the receptacle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Two embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of an appliance for loosening screw caps according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III-III of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary bottom view of a further embodiment according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The first embodiment of the appliance for loosening screw caps according to the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 and comprises a pair of straight arms 1 and 2 which are U-shaped in cross section and carry at one of their ends a cover-like head portion 4 from which a substantially annular skirt 3 depends. This cover-like head portion 4 and the arms 1 and 2 are cut in one piece from a sheet metal plate and subsequently shaped into their final from in a die stamp. The skirt 3 of the head portion 4 is provided with a number of inwardly projecting teeth 5. The head portion 4 is provided with an open ended slot 6 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the loosening appliance and opens between the arms 1 and 2.

Intermediate their ends the arms 1 and 2 are connected together by means of a transverse arm 7 lying against the underside of the web portions of the arms 1 and 2 and passing through the two neighbouring leg portions of said arms. One end of said transverse arm 7 is riveted to the web portion of the arm 1 as at 8, whereas the other end of the transverse arm 7 is guided by the shank of a rivet 10 passed through an elongated slot 9 provided in said end and extending at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis thereof. The reference numeral 11 in FIG. 2 denotes a receptacle, as it is commonly used for foodstuffs, which is provided wtih a screw cap 12. The receptacle 11 and the screw cap 12 are indicated by dot and dash lines in FIG. 2.

For loosening the screw cap 12 of the receptacle 11 the head portion 4 of the appliance is placed in spreaded position onto the screw cap 12. The spreading movement of the head portion 4 is limited by the length of the elongated slot 9 in the transverse arm 7 through which the shank of the rivet 10 is passed. Lateral pressure exerted on the arms 1 and 2 by the hand of the user effects that the skirt 3 of the head portion 4 is tightly pressed against the skirt of the screw cap 12, any undesired sliding movement of the appliance on the skirt of the screw cap 12 being avoided by the teeth 5 on the skirt 3. The screw cap 12 of the receptacle 11 can thus be loosened by performing a brief turning movement.

In the second embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 4, the skirt 3 of the head portion 4 is provided along half its circumference with an inwardly directed angularly bent flange 13 adapted to engage from below the skirt of a closure cap pressed onto a receptacle so that by depressing the free ends of the arms of the appliance and using a suitable point on top of the closure cap as a fulcrum the closure cap can be lifted to such an extent that it can be easily gripped and removed from the receptacle.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for loosening a cap of a receptacle comprising:

(a) a cap gripping section including a continuous, one-piece flexible skirt portion to fit along the periph: cry of the cap and a covering portion to extend over the cap,

(b) said covering portion includes an open ended slot extending in the longitudinal direction of the arms and opening therebetween,

(c) handle means including a pair of arms fixedly attached to theflexible skirt portion to flexibly tighten the one-piece skirt portion around the cap, and

(d) a transverse member fixedly mounted at one end thereof and movably mounted at the other end thereof,

(e) said transverse member having an elongated slot extending at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the transverse member to provide a movable guide therefor,

(f) said transverse member is attached to the arms at a location intermediate their ends.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said entire cap gripping section has a one-piece construction.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said entire cap gripping section combined with said pair of arms has a one-piece construction.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said cap gripping section includes inwardly projecting teeth located on said skirt portion to facilitate gripping of said'cap.

5. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said cap gripping-section includes an inwardly directed angularly bent flange located on the skirt portion to engage the lower edge of said cap for removal.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 wherein said flange is integrally formed on said skirt and extends along half the circumference thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 977,430 12/,1910 Blake 29431 X 1,363,316 12/1920 Dubek 813.44 1,402,731 1/1922 -Asplund 813.44 2,738,117 3/1956 Trimdl 813.46 X

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner R. v. PARKER, IR., Assistant Examiner 

